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| FLOWER RING (c) ESTATE OF IVAAN KOTULSKY |
Ivaan and his
partner, Tamas, had a couple of funny lines they'd use whenever a customer came
into their store and tried on a ring that was the wrong size. For some
reason, the laws of probability do not exist in the minds of jewellery buyers.
I mean, what are the chances of a complete stranger walking in off the
street, trying on one single ring out of all the rings on display, and finding
that it fits them? Not very good. On the other hand, what are the chances
that said customer will proceed to stare at their hand in confused bewilderment and say,
"But it doesn't fit!"? I'd say this happens every single time.
So Tamas would
growl, "We didn't know you were coming". And Ivaan would add,
"We only make two sizes: Too Big, and Too Small". If the
customer burst out laughing, they knew they'd made a new friend.
Recently,
a group of old friends came by the store for a dinner party. In case you
find yourself invited to a dinner party at the store, don't miss the
opportunity, because sometimes it can get pretty funny. Perhaps my next
blog post will be about one of the memorable dinner parties that have
taken place in the store. On this occasion, though, it was a group
of friends with whom I had worked a couple of decades previously. As
it happened, one of the guests was about to be married that weekend. After
dinner, they were all amusing themselves trying on jewellery, and the
bride-to-be tried on a one-of-a-kind ring just like the ring in this photo.
It's a gorgeous ring, and the only reason it's still around is
because it's - you guessed it - too big. But she loved it, and wanted to
order it in her size.
I definitely didn't want to cut this one down to size.
What to do, what to do? So I decided to make a mould of it, make a
couple of new waxes from the mould, and reduce the size in the wax.
I started with two waxes and they both came out beautifully. So,
taking this as a Sign From Above, I cast them both, and finished them. I sent one to the bride-to-be as a
wedding gift from Ivaan and me.
And what about the other one? You
can come in and try it on, if you want.
But I can guarantee, it'll either
be Too Big or Too Small.
